Football
Stephan Uersfeld, Germany correspondent 7y

Werder Bremen's Claudio Pizarro oldest Bundesliga scorer this century

Claudio Pizarro ended a streak of 312 days without a goal in his 200th Bundesliga appearance for Werder Bremen to become the oldest scorer in the division for almost 18 years.

When coming off the bench after 76 minutes with his side 1-0 down at Bayer Leverkusen on Friday, Pizarro had not scored for Bremen since the 6-2 defeat of Stuttgart on May 2, 2016.

Minutes later, the attacker deflected a Robert Bauer shot in with his hip and won his team a crucial point in their battle against relegation.

"It was very important for me to finally score again," Pizarro said after scoring his 191st Bundesliga goal overall and his 104th for Bremen in his 200th league appearance for the club.

Pizarro has now scored in 16 different Bundesliga seasons, with only Klaus Fischer, who struck in 18 seasons, and Manfred Kaltz, Mehmet Scholl and Lothar Matthaus, who struck in 17 seasons, finding the back of the net in more seasons.

Pizarro, aged 38 years, five months and six days on Friday, also became the Bundesliga's oldest goal scorer for almost 18 years, when former Bayern Munich captain Lothar Matthaus struck the last of his 121 league goals in a 6-1 win against Freiburg in November 1999.

Meanwhile, it remains unclear whether Pizarro will play for Bremen beyond the summer, when his current deal with the club expires.

"Everything's open," sporting director Frank Baumann told reporters when asked about the player's future.

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